Blue-tailed Emerald

This was taken on one of Linda Robbins Hummingbird Addiction tours at Guango Lodge, Ecuador. I look forward to your critiques.

Camera: Canon EOS 5D MkII
Lens: 500mm F/4
1/200 sec, f/18
Mode: Manual Exposure
ISO: 800
Flash: Multi Flash for High Speed

Even though the bird's head is angled slightly away, this one--with the killer view of the dorsal wing surfaces, and the feeding pose--works well for me. Love the colors, the tail, and the bird's grip on the flower. I look forward to seeing your best sword-billed!

wing detail is superb and the colors are gorgeous -- very nice

A very nice shot indeed although, I find with hummingbird photos they sometimes look a little 'over flashed', but that aside it really is a great image and I'd be thrilled to have it in my collection :)

Dean, what a cool hummingbird. I understand Richard's point about the overflashed look, particularly on the flower, but I will say that in my opinion not all hummingbird shots have to look natural. I like the studio look that the lighting and the background give to this one; it all depends on what one's going for at any particular setup, and I like going for different interpretations at times when I do setups.

I wish it weren't so tight on the right but I know this is tough work. Actually, my biggest nit would be that it's "feeding" at a closed bract of the Heliconia, where there would not be nectar in nature.

Still, it's got a cool graphic feel to it so, like Richard said, it's definitely a good one to have in the collection!

Cheers,
Greg Basco

Dean:

Good comments above. I was struck even by the thumbnail by the strong colors and flaring lines.
It does strike me as too flashed looking, so I spent a minute trying to tone it down a bit while maintaining the punch.
This is a very quick selection and change of blend mode to multiply, but I think it helps a bit, particularly the plant.
You can do a much better job on the raw file, but I think it is worth the time!

Hope to see more.

Randy